Intertwined Paths
by Lizzaaa
Summary: Melena, aka Meela, leaves her home planet as a child and becomes the first girl Jedi, with Mace Windu as her master. On her first solo mission, an unexpected turn of events occur when she encounters a Sith Apprentice. When they become stranded on the remote planet, the two must learn to trust each other. (This is a personal twist on the books, so expect different people and plots)
1. That's a Republic Ship!

The sun was just rising over the horizon. Everything around Meela was foggy and grey. She was running through the trees, hopping over fallen branches as if they weren't even there. She was acutely aware to all of her surroundings though she paid them little attention. She heard the birds in the trees without having to strain, the smaller animals scurrying along beside without even seeing them. It didn't matter. She knew they were there.

Yavin IV was a small planet. It had its downfalls, it wasn't very popular or even near any other planets. But it was out of the Republics control so they were able to govern themselves. A lot of people thought this was a good idea. Meela, she dreamed of the Republic on Coruscant. She had always heard stories and dreamed it up a wonderful place. She wanted to go there.

Another thing about Yavin IV was that it was barely inhabited. Everyone that lived there was far and few between but they all knew each other. The ruling council stayed at the only long- standing monument on the planet, the temple. It was huge and dated back until the beginning of time. Or so Meela thought. She hadn't been taught any different.

They didn't place much attention on schooling. It was how to survive. The entire planet was one gigantic forest so survival was kind of a big deal. It was all a person had. Meela had learned the lesson well.

She came across a tower in the middle of a clearing and stopped. Meela craned her neck to see to the very top. There was a platform up there were scouts used to sit. Now, it was unmonitored, free for her to enjoy. She didn't stop for long before she started the climb up. It wasn't easy. The tower was made out of bricks so there were small holds for her hands and feet, but time had long sense weathered them down to almost nothing. She enjoyed the challenge.

It wasn't as if this was her first time coming here. Ever since she had discovered it on the night of her parent's deaths she had been coming here to think. It was the perfect place, she was never interrupted.

Her parents had died when she was very young, two maybe. She didn't remember much about them. Of course she was only five now but she had grown up far too quickly for her age. People tried to keep track of her but they always ended up giving up. She was a handful, always having to be moving. She would come back to her village scraped up and bloodied but she would have the biggest smile on her face.

After ten minutes of climbing Meela sat down on the top platform and stared out over the open sky. There wasn't a cloud present. She rubbed her arms almost on instinct, though they didn't hurt her at all. She had made that climb too many times before. She laid back and stared at the sky closing her eyes.

All of sudden she was shaken awake. Meela sat up only to find a starship landing about five miles away, near her town. She stood up to get a better look. It looked an awful like one of the ones that had been described to her in stories… that were used by the Republic.

In a flurry of excitement she quickly climbed down tower. Carefulness thrown out the window. She had to know what was going on. She had to get to that ship. Meela took off running once again becoming automatically one with her surroundings. She knew things were there but she couldn't focus on anything except one thought. That's a Republic ship!

She sprinted as quickly as her feet would carry her. She couldn't miss that ship, she had only a small window of time before her town made it leave. Even though most of her village didn't want any sort of connection to the war, there was her single friend that would be as excited as she was about it.

She didn't want to waste any unnecessary time, but she took a slight detour to where she knew she would find him. He would be in his favorite tree. It also one of her favorite trees because it was one of the tallest in the area. It didn't take long before the tree came into view and she spotted him. He had just climbed down to the bottom. "Collin!" He turned at his name.

"Did you see that starship?" He asked her, his eagerness as plain as day.

"Yes, it landed near our village," Meela answered him. Then, calling over her shoulder as she began to run in its direction, she called, "Come on, we can't miss it!"

Collin was at her heels as they ran towards that starship. Meela almost lost her footing once or twice because she couldn't focus on anything other than getting to her town as soon as possible. Finally, they reached the outskirts of town. The trip seemed to have taken twice as long as normal.

There was a glint off something in the distance that caught Meela's eye. She abruptly changed her course and headed straight for it. There was only one thing that it could be, and Meela felt her feet fly faster as her excitement reached them.

Just then the ground shook again, and Meela slowed her run to a stop to scan the sky. Sure enough, there was yet another starship coming in for a landing. This one looked a little different from the other off in the distance, but it was a starship nonetheless. It landed, and Meela saw people getting off of it in a hurry. Some of them ran off towards the other landed starship, while others ran towards the center of her village.

Meela had a nagging hunch that something wasn't quite right. Worried, she hesitantly began moving along the path further into her village. Collin grabbed ahold of her arm and stopped her. "Whatever those guys are here for, it's not something we should be a part of. We should leave."

Meela answered him by jerking her arm out of his grip. "We may never get this chance again," she stated simply. Collin stared at her, seeming lost and trying to make up his mind. After a few moments, he nodded, and they were on their way.

Upon entering the main part of the village Meela became aware of a mechanical marching noise of in the distance, followed by some unfamiliar voice shouting, "There's more on their way, hold them off!" She looked around for the owner of the voice, and found him when he appeared right in front of her. He had dark skin, and he held what Meela recognized as a light saber. It was purple. In an authoritative voice he said, "It won't be safe here for little children. Leave now."

Even though she didn't want to leave, because of the seriousness in his voice and her surroundings, Meela obeyed. Collin, of course, just followed Meela. Once they neared the outskirts of the town, the ground shook again, but this time there was a loud noise accompanying it.

Meela stopped and as she tried to keep her balance as the rumble reached her, she scanned the sky. Collin had followed her closely, and he was scanning the sky too. There was no other starship to be seen. They both looked at each other questioningly. With an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, Meela looked back to the village. The answer to their unspoken question was heard further into their village.

Meela couldn't help it, she ran back into the village. She faintly heard Collin calling her name behind her but didn't turn around to answer. She skidded into the village and stared at something she had never thought she would never see in her life. Her village was at war.


	2. Abandonded & Left for the Droids

There were droids everywhere shooting at everyone. Meela found she couldn't watch it for very long for fear she would become entranced. It was somehow beautiful. The colors of blue, green and the single purple streaks only added to the beauty. There were Jedi here, they were helping her village.

Collin caught up to her just as she started moving again. He groaned and followed as she took the back roads to her house. Meela didn't bother with the door, she just knocked it over with a kick and then entered. Collin waited impatiently out by the door.

Meela rushed into her room and quickly dug around under her pillow. She found what she was looking for right away. It was a carved necklace. Her father had made it for her before he had died. If she was leaving town she was taking it with her.

She hurried back to meet up with Collin. He grimaced at her and motioned for her to lead the way out of town. She nodded understanding and started sneaking around. Meela knew that being silent was the key to survival here, not a full on rush. Her plan was working until she turned a corner and came face to face with a droid. He stared at her with blank eyes, well kind of eyes, and then raised his gun. Shoot first ask questions later, Meela thought humorlessly.

Meela and Collin stood shaking in the face of the raised gun. There was nothing they could do. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. There was definitely no way they would make it back the way they had come. All of a sudden something fell from the sky. It was the man with the purple light saber again. He slashed the droid with one clean motion before turning to her and Collin.

"I thought I told you this was not safe for kids," he said sternly. His eyes seemed to penetrate her very soul. She didn't reply. He shook his head and took her arm in his hand. He then proceeded to lead her down the street and out of town. He would have made it too, but three more droids showed up and he had to cut them down. After he did this he looked at her, he seemed to be thinking.

"You must get somewhere safe," he said finally. Meela was about to say something back to him sarcastically.

"Umm I would kind of want to yeah," she heard Collin say behind her. Meela had almost forgotten he was there behind her. The man looked at him as if this was the first time he had seen him.

"Yes… both of you," he said haltingly. He caught one of the other Jedi that were fighting and quickly explained the situation to him. The other man nodded and turned his attention to the two kids.

"Follow me please," he said and then set off without waiting to see if they would follow or not.

They, of course, followed the Jedi. He made sure to go quickly, but not so quickly that the two kids could not keep up. They ran around the starships, and Meela marveled at the Jedi when he deflected a few stray bullets with his light saber.

Eventually, they made it into a ravine. Meela knew this ravine like the back of her hand. The Jedi, however, didn't. She realized that they were about to run into a dead end. Just as Meela was about to call out to the Jedi and tell him this, bullets whizzed overhead from behind them.

The Jedi spun around, and in an instant had moved between the kids and the quickly advancing droids. As the Jedi was deflecting the bullets, he yelled over his shoulder, "Run, don't look back!"

Collin didn't know this ravine as well as Meela did either, so he grabbed her arm and did as the Jedi said. Meela couldn't say anything, she was stunned. Everything seemed to be happening slowly. She managed to look over her shoulder just as they rounded a bend in the ravine. The Jedi blocked a few bullets, which were sent back to the droids. A few fell, but there were still several left.

It looked as if perseverance would help the Jedi win, but at that moment a droid rolled over and stopped. A force field sprang up around it, and it fired. The Jedi again reflected some of the shots, but after a few tries the droid hit its target, and the Jedi slowly went down.

Meela was petrified, and she froze. Collin was still pulling her, so she stumbled and fell. Pain shot up her leg, but Meela ignored it the best she could and tried to get up. When she looked behind her she saw they had reached the end. Collin tried pulling her back up, shouting, "Get up, we can climb!"

Meela tried to stand, but once again pain shot up her leg. She felt her ankle, and just as she suspected, she had sprained it. It didn't matter how good of a climber she was, she wouldn't be able to scale the side of the ravine quickly enough to make a get-away.

Collin seemed to realize this, and dropped her arm. He turned to look at the side of the ravine. Just then the mechanical marching began to near them. Meela looked in its direction and saw a few of the droids advancing menacingly. In a panic, she turned back to Collin, who had disappeared.

She scanned around her, and found him almost at the top of the ravine. "Collin?" She shouted, mortified. By now, Collin had reached the top of the ravine and turned to look back down at her. His expression looked both regretful and grave. Then, he turned and ran. "Collin!" Meela shrieked, fear cracking her voice.

Collin had left her in order to save himself. If their positions were switched, Meela wouldn't have given up on him so easily. The footsteps echoing in the raving drew her attention back to the droids. Some of them had already pointed their weapons at her, and were just waiting to get close enough.

Her heart was pounding in her ears, and Meela had no idea what to do. In the heat of the moment, she sealed her eyes shut and raised her hands, almost as if she could push them away. The echoing grew louder around her, closing in on her. She was cornered. She had no way out.

Meela sealed her eyes even tighter. Just then she felt a coursing energy rise in her and surge out from her hands. Clanking sounded throughout the ravine. Then, all was quiet. Hesitantly, Meela opened her eyes. Before her, the droids that had previously marching towards her were scattered on the ground.


	3. Aboard the Republic Cruiser

Meela stared at them in shocked amazement. She hardly even noticed when someone landed lightly on the ground next to her and pulled her to her feet. She gasped as sudden pain gripped through her ankle and was then lifted off the ground. She felt strong arms encircle her and protect her from falling.

It hurt when the man carrying her walked. Her foot bounced and pain sprang from it, but it was less than it would have been if she was walking. She was still shell shocked. She couldn't believe that she had stopped those droids. She had stopped those droids, hadn't she? All of it kind of blurred together in her mind until she couldn't make one thing from another.

Finally she looked up. It was the black Jedi who had found her and was now carrying her. He felt safe. She tried not to move to make his walk less work for him. His arms were warm and comfortable. She slowly found herself lolled to sleep by the movement of his walking. All sounds of droids and shooting were gone.

She woke up on a hard bed. Her eyes opened slowly as she took in her surroundings. She was in a blank room. There was nothing there except for her bed. And everything was white. Meela sat up in bed and felt for her ankle on instinct. It still hurt but it had been wrapped so she could put pressure on it. She carefully got up and walked out of her room.

Meela knew instantly that she was on one of the starships. She hoped it was a Republic one. She got her answer when a Jedi walked by. He looked at her once but then continued on his way. It must not have been strange to see someone on the ship that wasn't there originally.

"Are you sure you should be up?" A steady voice came from behind her. She spun around and winced as her ankle twisted slightly. The Jedi who had saved her stared at her with a blank contemplating stare. He seemed to see into her very soul.

"I feel fine," she lied smoothly. She had learned to lie easily from many years of living between people and homes.

"Of course you do," and with that she knew he didn't believe her.

"Why am I here? Have we taken off?" she asked. He waited patiently for a moment before answering.

"No but the droids are gone," he replied. She waited for more information. "I brought you on here as a safe place."

"What happened?" she said quietly still trying to puzzle it out herself.

"That's what I want to know," he said still eyeing her curiously. She gave him a half-smile.

"Have a hunch?" she asked him and he shook his head, but she knew he was lying.

"Who were your parents?" he asked seeming to change the subject. Meela caught an undercurrent to his voice that suggested that they were still on the same subject.

Meela opened her mouth, not expecting that question. Despite it having been about three years ago, not to mention that she didn't have many memories of them, the thought of her parents still ached her. With the thought of them in her mind, Meela gently clasped the carved necklace that was hanging around her neck and hung her head. There was a loud silence in the room, and it went uninterrupted for a while.

Finally, the Jedi broke the quiet. "Did something happen in the village while those droids were there?" Meela knew by his voice that he somehow already knew the answer to that question. He was just giving her the choice whether or not talk about it.

She hesitated, then shook her head. Again, silence. This time Meela broke it herself, "I never knew them… It happened when I was only two." She looked up after a few moments to see the Jedi studying her.

Just then a medical droid came over and beeped a series of tones. Meela had no idea what it said, or that it had said anything at all. However, the Jedi seemed to understand. He waved it away, then continued to ask her questions. "How old are you?"

"Five," Meela answered, turning to watch the droid leave the room.

"And no one has taken you in?" The Jedi leaned forward and folded his hands.

Doors closed behind the droid, but Meela still watched the set of doors where it disappeared. It amazed her how a droid could be threatening and dangerous, yet another could be careful and caring. Then Meela realized she was asked another question and turned to look back at the Jedi. "Sorry?"

"Hasn't any one taken you in since the accident happened?" He called it an accident, but really Meela wasn't sure what it was.

Too pained to think back, she answered the question instead. "Many people tried, though I was always too much of a handful. But I was always alright on my own."

"It would seem so," the man said. Meela had no idea how to respond to that, so she just stayed silent. He was studying her again. Meela shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

Finally, the silence was interrupted by another question. "What is your name?"

Meela hesitated briefly, but after looking up at the Jedi felt at ease. He was someone she could trust. Somehow, she knew that. "Melena Oakensheild, but I'm called Meela."

"Oakensheild…" The Jedi murmured to himself. It was spoken so quietly Meela almost thought she didn't hear anything at all. "Well Meela," he said as he stood up, "I am Mace Windu."

Meela dipped her head respectfully. "It is an honor to meet you, Jedi Mace Windu."

"Jedi?" He said, just barely cocking his head to the side, "How did a little child like you know about Jedi?"

Meela met his gaze. "Stories. I also know about the Republic and the war. I recognized the starships instantly as they flew overhead."

"Hmm." Meela could only tell that he was considering something, but she couldn't guess what.

The medical droid returned but didn't even get to say anything before Mace Windu silenced it. Meela watched with mild amusement as the disappointed droid slowly backed away again.

"What does it want?" she asked curious. Jedi Windu turned his attention back to her and smiled slightly.

"It wants to take care of you," he said. "I had to assure it that you were in good hands." Meela had not doubt that he was telling the truth. She felt like she was safe.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Meela asked looking up at him expectantly.

"What do you mean?" he asked calmly.

"You seem to be thinking about something," Meela explained herself, "I just want to know what."

"I was thinking about offering you to come with us." It took a moment for this to sink in. Meela had no idea what he was talking about. Suddenly it hit her. She felt so winded that she had to sit down on the nearest chair.

"Wh-what?"

"I would like you to come with us," he sounded more sure now. Meela stared at him in amazement.

"Are you sure?" she asked cautiously afraid that this opportunity was all just a big joke. She had never heard of a Jedi to joke around before. Mace Windu didn't say anything he just smiled that small smile at her again. That was all she needed in confirmation.

"Of course I will go with you!" she exclaimed jumping to her feet and hugging him. He stood there stiffly and then after a few seconds he gently pried her off of him.

"You are going to have to learn to control your emotions," he said already down to business. It took her a little while before she was able to calm herself down enough to nod.

This was her dream. She had been wanting to do this for all her life. Everything that she had done up to this point had been in hopes of this day. It was right in front of her and this Jedi was asking her if she wanted it. Of course she wanted it.

"Ok I can do that," he eyed her suspiciously but didn't say anything more about it.

"Do you need to get anything from town?" he asked.

"No I don't think so, clothes maybe…" she thought but Windu waved her off.

"Those will be provided," he said. She nodded and then thought for a bit. Her hand absentmindedly went to her necklace and she shook her head. When her eyes looked up they found Mace Windu watching her with softened eyes. She was close to figuring out what it was before it was gone.

Meela was distracted from her trail of thought when Mace Windu spoke again, "Meela, hold out your arm."

Meela had no idea why he wanted her to do this, but she did as she was asked anyway. He grabbed it gently and his hand flashed to her skin. Meela felt a pinch and winced. When she looked back she saw that his hand was gone, but he still had ahold of her arm. "What was that for?" Meela asked confused as she saw a small trickle of blood coming from her arm.

"I needed a bit of your blood in order to test it," he said as he held something to the blood. "I already know that you have the force within you, I just need to see how concentrated it is." By now Mace Windu was placing a bandage on her arm.

"Oh," was all Meela was able to manage. She was a little surprised by him taking her blood, but she let it go. "Do you have an idea of how much I have?"

Windu looked at her as if he were studying something he was seeing for the first time. "Well, you are very young, so the fact that you were able to use the force, without any instruction from a Jedi master, must mean you have a rather high concentration." At Meela's blank expression, he simplified what he had just said. "Because you were able to use the force, you have a lot."

"How many others are there like me?" Meela asked him curiously.

"There are a few others around your age, but hardly any Jedi was able to do what you did. You are special."

Meela's head turned when two Jedi's walked through the door. One was older and walked over to Mace Windu. The other Jedi was younger than the first and trailed the man. Meela then realized that all of the Jedi she had seen were men.

She watched as Mace Windu handed the other Jedi the thing that had her blood in it. It didn't seem as if they were going to exchange any words, they seemed to know already what to do. Meela took this as a good time to ask a question. "Jedi Mace Windu," Meela began, then paused as all three heads turned towards her. "You see, I was just wondering, how come I haven't seen any women Jedi?" Meela felt silly for asking the question.

Mace Windu didn't seem to think it was an odd question at all. "Because there are no women Jedi. You will become the first." He answered plainly. Meela noted the hint of surprise that crossed the other two Jedi's faces.

Meela was studying the two men more closely now. Mace Windu must have noticed that, because he spoke again. "Meela, let me introduce you to two Jedi. This is Jedi mater Qui-Gon Jin," the man he indicated towards nodded his head with a smile, "and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi." This man smiled at Meela as well. Meela smiled shyly back at both of them.

"Obi-Wan," Windu said, turning to the apprentice Jedi, "would you take Meela to a room?"

"Of course," he answered, bowing slightly. Then, turning to Meela he said, "This way Meela." His voice was friendly, and Meela followed him without any hesitation. He led her to a room with a bed and told her to rest up for tomorrow. When the door closed behind her Meela was left alone in the room. She laid down on the bed and tried to will sleep to come to her. She could barely keep still.


End file.
